Roman cavalry and seige equipment.

[Almore]

Hi guys i am very new to this site. I am doing an Extended writing qualification which is a 5000 word document on the Effectiveness of the Roman army. Can you answer a few questions for me please ?

What is your overall view of the Roman cavalry's effectiveness?

- What was the Roman cavalry's epuipment like and what tactics where they best used for ?

- To the limit of your knowledge what battle used the Roman cavalry most effectively?

- What is your overall view of the tactics used by the romans and how they conducted themselves on the battle field?

- How effective would you say the romans used thier seige equipment and what one was most used and most effective?

What were the pretorian cohort like and how effective where they ? Where they the best cavalry unit available and what equipment did they wear?

Did cavalry use a sword or shield ?

BTW sorry about putting it in the worng category.

[jvrjenivs]

What was the Roman cavalry's epuipment like?

What period are you interested in? There are lot of differences between periods. Over time the Roman army had both very simpla as very ornate horsegear, with lots of bling. Furthermore they got clibinarii heavy cavalry at some point. As for the arms, the cavalryman certainly had access to a spear, spathae and a set of iacula. A bow could be used from horseback also, less is know about the use of plumbatae.

Did cavalry use a sword or shield ?

Along with their spatha (longer sword) they used a shield for protection. Grave stelae and monuments show oval, hexagonal and round shields in cavalry use.

[Almore]

What period are you interested in?

In gerneral really. Compared to the Roman infantry how good a qaulity was it ?

[jvrjenivs]

You could start reading Souther and Dixon - Roman Cavalry. For cavalry equipment check Markus Junkelmann - Die Reiter Roms I, II & III. Furthermore I would suggest to get the book by Michael P. Speidel: Die Denkmäler der Kaiserreiter: Equites singulares Augusti for your question about the imperial horseguard.

Good luck with your research!

[D B Campbell]

- How effective would you say the romans used thier seige equipment and what one was most used and most effective?

My gut feeling says "battering ram". Out of the 225 Roman sieges that I studied, whenever any particular machinery was mentioned (72 sieges), it was usually battering rams (33 of the 72 sieges).